This invention relates to polycarbonates, polyesters, and polyestercarbonates prepared from at least one aromatic diol, wherein a portion or all of the aromatic diol used in their preparation is a stilbene diol.
Certain polymers derived from stilbene diols are known and are described, for example, in Cebe et al., Polym. Preprints, Vol. 33, p. 331 (1992), Bluhm et al., Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., Vol. 239, p. 123 (1994), and Cheng et al., Macromolecules, Vol. 27, p. 5440 (1994), which describe the preparation of mixed aromatic-aliphatic polycarbonates based on stilbene diols and C.sub.4-12 alpha,omega-alkanediols. Percec et al., J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Lett., Vol. 22, p. 637 (1984) and J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polym. Chem., Vol. 25, p. 405 (1987) report the synthesis of mixed aromatic-aliphatic polyethers via the reaction of 4,4'-dihydroxy-alpha-methylstilbene with C.sub.1-11 alpha,omega-dibromoalkanes. Blumstein et al., Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., Vol. 49, p. 255 (1979) and Polym. Journal, Vol. 17, p. 277 (1985) describe mixed aromatic-aliphatic polyesters from stilbene diols and alpha,omega-alkanedicarboxylic acids. Roviello and Sirigu, Makromol. Chem., Vol. 180, p. 2543 (1979), Makromol. Chem., Vol. 183, p. 409 (1982) and Makromol. Chem., Vol. 183, p. 895 (1982) report the preparation of mixed aromatic-aliphatic thermotropic liquid crystalline polyesters from 4,4'-dihydroxy-alpha-methylstilbene and C.sub.8-14 alpha,omega-alkanedicarboxylic acids. Sato, J., Polym. Sci.: Part A: Polym. Chem., Vol. 26, p. 2613 (1988) reports the synthesis of mixed aromatic-aliphatic polyesters using 4,4'-dihydroxy-alpha,alpha'-diethylstilbene and adipoyl chloride, sebacoyl chloride, and mixtures of adipoyl and sebacoyl chlorides. However, the physical properties and melt characteristics of such polymers may be less than desirable for certain applications.